The launch of the first two satellites of the EU's Galileo global navigation system has hit a snag, but experts remain optimistic.

The News: Galileo launch delayed - but not by much

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The launch of the first two satellites of the  Galileo navigation system has been delayed

The postponement came after a fault was  detected while refuelling the third stage.

The important thing is that  the whole organisation is in place,

our teams are working very hard,  they're very motivated.

So they'll have to remain under pressure  for another day. But that's all.

It's the first time a Russian Soyuz rocket  has been launched in the west

and it may signal a new era of cooperation.

and it will take a while  before the whole system is functioning.

We hope that by 2014  we'll have 18 satellites in place,

which will be enough  for the system to function,

and then by 2017, 2018 or 2019  the rest will be there.

EU Finance Ministers will have to work  on that and we must get a grip on the crisis.

With a cost so far in excess of €5 billion,

Galileo has been criticised for delays  and being over budget.

But in a world increasingly dependent  on such systems,

I think there's something like €90 billion  over the next few years

to the benefit of the EU economy,  and that's why this is necessary.

Two more satellites go up next year then,  once they're working,

more will follow at the rate of eight a year.

A brief delay shouldn't make  a lot of difference.